Report on Fraud Relating to Certain Covid-19 Loans
Floor Speech
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Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time.
Mr. Speaker, the COVID pandemic is behind us, and with that, a lot of the problems associated with COVID have also managed to go away, but fraud remains. The bill to the American people associated with that COVID relief fraud is here. We have to deal with it.
Pandemic relief opened the door to wide-scale fraud. Due to the lack of guardrails within the SBA and the borrowing structure, over $200 billion of pandemic loan programs were potentially fraudulent.
Did you catch that, Mr. Speaker? $200 billion. That is not me. That is not Aaron Bean. That is the Inspector General of the United States overseeing the SBA.
He has identified more than 90,000 fraud cases, over one in five, which represents more than 100 years of investigative casework.
Mr. Speaker, one of the most disturbing stories to come out of the Inspector General's investigation is the Barbie doll face scam.
Do you know about this? This scam wasn't perpetrated by America's favorite Barbie such as Malibu Barbie, Presidential Barbie, Lawyer Barbie, or even Live Action Barbie.
No, no, no, Mr. Speaker. This was perpetrated--this was the job of swindler Barbie. Swindler Barbie's face was used as identification for fake identities who went on to collect millions in fraudulent loans when facial recognition software used at SBA verified the identities as real people.
Behind me, this poster shows real faces, real corrupt Barbie dolls that were used to collect fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans. Yes, it is absurd, Mr. Speaker, but what do you expect? This is crazy town.
That is why I rise today to speak in favor of my bill, H.R. 4666, the PPP/EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023, but you know it, Mr. Speaker, as the we want our money back act.
The bill requires the Inspector General of the SBA to report to Congress every quarter with detailed updates on the ongoing fraud investigations of the PPP and EIDL loan programs.
Most importantly, we are not going to let it go. This will hopefully ensure that the pandemic loan fraud will not be swept under the rug. The American people want oversight over a runaway, unaccountable bureaucracy. We just don't like cheats. We don't like skippers. Somebody has to be held accountable.
As the Inspector General continues to uncover the abuse of taxpayer dollars, it is important for Congress to know the full extent of the fraud, and most importantly, the progress of getting our money back.
To the fraudsters: You can run, but you can't hide. We will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We will never tolerate stealing from hardworking taxpayers.
Mr. Speaker, as the chairman said, it has been a delight working together, both within the committee and even on the other side of the aisle.
To the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Mfume, what a treat it is to work with him as we come together to get our money back because that is what the American people want. We want our money back.
Get ready, Mr. Speaker, and get ready, America, accountability is coming. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important piece of legislation because the American people have made it clear: We want our money back.
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